


Reunion in the woods.

by lovingbookssince1234



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Badass, Fighting, Multi, Reunions, Skinwalkers - Freeform, Valg, fae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 11:44:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4099738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovingbookssince1234/pseuds/lovingbookssince1234
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set post Heir of Fire. When Chaol, Aedion, Dorian and Ren reunite with Celaena in the woods, it doesn't go as smooth as it should've, especially when Rowan finally arrives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reunion in the woods.

Celaena POV  
Seated by the river I let my focus wander. The droplet of water I was trying to conjure forgotten as my mind drifted to Rowan. Magic has been temporarily restored and so I sent word, asking for him to come, but so far… nothing. It hurts, day after day, the bond between us aches more. I can feel it painfully tugging on my heart, without him I am losing the skills I had perfectly honed. I have no one to practice on and it’s bugging me. I also sent Chaol and Ren an anonymous tip to come to the forest but who knows if they would actually come. I had sent what little aid I had available to help them rescue Aedion and Dorian but I didn’t know if it was successful, I had left the city as soon as magic was restored, not wanting to stay there a second to long. I suddenly heard voices a mile or so to the west. I hadn’t heard anyone in the forest in days and leapt up. I couldn’t make out the voices distinctly but they sounded male. Standing up I began to run towards the voices. I wasn’t in my Fae form, I didn’t need to be but I was still faster than any human. As I got closer I started to hear the tell tale sounds of a fight. Sticking to the shadows I got as close as possible and nearly roll my eyes at the sight.

Dorian POV  
‘So you’re just trusting someone you don’t know?’ Aedion asked doubtfully and I looked at Chaol who glared at the man.  
‘They helped get both you and Dorian out, I doubt they’re going to turn on us. Besides, we could use all the help we can get to get rid of the King.’ I nearly growled at the mention of my father, images of Sorscha still flashing through my mind. Her bloody head and then darkness, being commanded to do things, horrible things, until I suddenly opened my eyes and saw only light. We’d been in the words for days and still no sign of whoever saved me.  
‘Any word from Celaena?’ I asked, knowing she should have come back by now. Chaol tenses and looks away from me before he replies.  
‘No.’ I know it still hurts him to think of her. After all, he sent her away after he believes he killed her friend. Chaol had told us all everything, that she was Aelin, that he had sent her basically straight into Maeve’s arms. Aedion hadn’t spoken much about her but from what he did say, even from a young age, her magic was powerful. The forest seems to go silent and still. I look at Chaol who frowns and looks into the darkness of the trees. We are in a slight clearing and the trees press down onto us. There is complete silence for a moment before men begin to pore out of the tree line, easily recognisable as my father’s men. We are massively outnumbered but one look at Chaol, Aedion and Ren has me drawing my side alongside them. No way are we going back to their, not alive anyway. There is a pause as they surround us. Maybe 40 of them to our 4. Well, that’s flattering I suppose. There is a tense stillness and then they surge towards us. I lunge forward and block the sword that comes swinging towards me. The next few minutes are bloody as we fight off the soldiers but as soon as one goes down, their is another taking his place. They back away and group back together. Now about 20 of them still stand and we face them. The silence is deafening so when a twig snap somewhere between us but in the forest, everyone looks that way. A muffled sound has me looking back to the men opposite me and it takes me a second tor realise that we are now stood against 18 men. The soldiers shift uncomfortably and I look at Chaol who shrugs. Another twig snaps and stupidly we once again look in that direction. Another muffled sound and I know what I’m going to see as I look back at the soldiers. Now 15 men remain and they look unnerved.  
‘Come out and face us like a man.’ The commander shouts and a deep chuckle comes from the trees. It seems to echo around us and I frown, whoever it is doesn’t give their position away.  
‘You mean the kind of man where 40 of you take on only 4 men. Doesn’t seem fair, those odds’ The voice is oddly familiar but I can’t quite place it. Yet this time it seems to come from behind us, when I look back, there is no one there. The soldiers start to shuffle, not quite so brave now.  
‘Yeah, I’m bored.’ Before I can wonder what the voice means, I get my answer. A body drops from a tree behind the men. I can’t make it out but I can make out the sounds of pain as whoever it is drops body after body. There is something familiar about the way the fighter moves, the hood hiding their face make it impossible to see who it is though. Now only ten men remain and the fighter now stands with their back to us, facing the soldiers who all look at their commander.  
‘Who are you?’ He asks, the person reaches up and pulls back their hood. Even from the back, the familiar blonde, nearly white, hair is a dead give away. The head turns slightly to look at us.  
‘Hey boys.’ She winks and I hear inhales of breath from both Aedion and Chaol. Something flickers in her gaze before she turns back to the soldiers.  
‘Bring it.’ They all charge towards her but she is already moving, ducking and swinging. Not one blow lands on her but blood is beginning to soak the ground from the wounds she gives them. The commander is behind her and I open my mouth to shout but she is already swinging round and flicking the sword away. Her fighting has improved, massively actually and it makes me slightly uneasy, even though I know that she would never hurt us, without reason anyway. Soon, the only man still breathing is the commander who glares at Celaena.  
‘You.’ She smiles, but it’s far from friendly. It’s full of malice and anger and her eyes flash dangerously. The man looks slightly scared but then he lunges, only to find Celaena gone. Quicker than I thought was humanely possible, she whirls around behind him and wraps one arm around his neck, the other locking his head in place. She is facing us and looks at me before her gaze slides to the others beside me. There is something different in her expression, she has changed since she left. Her eyes seem colder, the hate glowing in them stronger and yet her face is relaxed. The scowl that is permanently on there has faded and her expression is blank. She looks back at me. Any emotion vanishes from her eyes as she pulls sharply and the man’s neck snaps. She lets go and his body slumps to the floor. Stepping over it without a backwards glance she approaches and stops a few feet away.  
‘Well, that was fun.’

………….

‘Aelin?’ Aedion’s voice comes from beside me.  
‘It’s Celaena.’ She snaps but then her face softens, slightly, but still. It’s the most love or kindness I have seen her show since Nehemia. Chaol is obviously thinking the same thing because he swallows and looks at the ground.  
‘Hello Aedion.’ He takes a step forward and her eyes go wary but she lets him approach and hug her. One arm pats his back awkwardly while the other hangs limply by her side. A minute later when he is still holding he, she firmly but gently separates herself from him.  
‘It’s good to see you.’ She says but her tone is formal and he notices it too.  
‘Ael- Celaena? What’s wrong?’ She says nothing but shakes her head.  
‘We shouldn’t stay here. Follow me.’ Without waiting for us to acknowledge what she said she walks away, pausing to pull her sword and a few daggers from some men’s bodies. With a shrug at the others I follow after her. 

The walk is silent apart from Ren occasionally grumbling and eventually Celaena stops, making me nearly ram into the back of her.  
‘If you don’t stop complaining, I will leave you all out here and you can deal with the things that will come for you, in a forest you know nothing about.’ Ren scoffs and the rest of us stay silent.  
‘Please, we could have dealt with the King’s men.’ That smile comes back, the same one she gave to the King the day she delivered Grave’s bloody head and it’s terrifying.  
‘I’m not talking about the King’s men. There are far worse things than arrogant soldiers in this forest.’ Her words send a chill down by spine and I look around me, suddenly feeling like a hundred pairs of eyes rest on me.  
‘So as I said. By all means, keep complaining, but when you’re being slaughtered in these woods like rats in a maze, I’ll be sitting at my camp laughing.’ Her voice is flat and her eyes cold, making it obvious she will indeed keep to her word. Ren looks at Chaol before scowling at her,  
‘Fine.’ Without another word she spins on her heel and takes off into the woods. While the rest of us stumble to keep up with her fast pace, tripping on roots and cracking twigs, her footsteps are silent. Not a sound, and even when she looks around, her feet never falter. Stepping over rocks and roots without hesitation and I wonder what it was like where she went, to change her so much, into something a lot more dangerous than the assassin that left here. We come to a river. A couple of metres wide.  
‘Try not to get your feet wet.’ Without even a run up, she turns and leaps over the stream. Landing at least half a metre clear on the other side. I feel my jaw loosen.  
‘You might need a run up.’ She calls, some tinges of humour in her tone. Aedion takes a few steps back and running slightly he jumps. His heels splash in the water but it’s a good jump, Chaol and Ren doing the same though Ren gets slightly wetter feet which he scowls at. I do the same as the others but even with a run up and as much power as I can into the jump, my heels still landing in the shallow water. I look at Celaena, wondering how she cleared it with such ease.  
‘Of course, with the power he has, we could all have just strolled across it if Dorian had frozen it.’ All of our heads whips towards her and I am first to speak.  
‘How did you know about what happened in court.’ She shrugs and turns away leaving us to trail after her. After another 5 minutes of walking we come across a cave and clearing. I can see weapons glittering in the cave and a slightly raised bed at the entrance. A pile of twigs and branches lie in the middle of the clearing but they are barely burnt. Maybe it’s a fresh pile.

It is growing dark by the time we have built our own makeshift beds, there is no space in the cave so we are spread around the fire.  
‘So Dorian, want to explain why you haven’t tried to use your magic?’ I look at Celaena whose gaze is fixed on me. The others all look at me and I shrug.  
‘No one to teach me, besides, the time I did use it was because I was angry. My father killed…’  
‘Sorscha, I know. He threatened Chaol as well.’ Yet again, I’m curious as to how she knows so much.  
‘Don’t lie though, you know you could use your magic if you wanted, you’re just too scared.’ I glare at her.  
‘So what if I am?’ She shakes her head and mutters something.  
‘Well, we should probably start a fire.’ Chaol says and Celaena looks at him. A fire suddenly springs up on the wood pile, Ren hiss’ and moves it feet away from the roaring fire. We all look at Celaena.  
‘What? I have magic remember.’ I look to the roaring flame and then back at her. She is barely even concentrating on the flames but they remain steady as she pulls out a dagger and begins to sharpen it.  
‘Is that all you can do? Set a pile of logs on fire?’ Ren obviously hasn’t forgiven Celaena for making him look stupid earlier. She stops sharpening her blade and stares at him for a moment. Chaol tenses and Aedion looks hard at his cousin. Celaena has changed and i wouldn’t be surprised if she set Ren on fire for the sheer fun of it. As if she heard me, flames suddenly leap towards Ren and he moves to back away but flames spring up around him until he is encircled in fire, the flames licking at him but never actually touching his skin, they just hit and bounce off. Ren looks about ready to wet himself but doesn’t say anything. There is a pause and the flames get higher and higher, starting to close in until Ren can barely move.  
‘Alright, stop.’ His voice cuts across the clearing and Celaena chuckles lowly. Nothing happens and then the flames vanish and the only thing still alight is the pile of twigs. Ren opens his mouth, presumably to make a snide comment but a rustle from the bushes has us all spinning in that direction. Nothing moves and then something emerges from the darkness, a man. Tall and formidable and I immediately reach for my sword but Celaena’s voice stops me.  
‘Wait.’ The man moves until I can see him in the light of the fire. I inhale slightly at the sight of his pointed ears, Fae. The man nods his head slightly to Celaena ignoring us. Is this a friend of hers that she met in Maeve’s court?  
‘Hello again.’  
‘Why are you here Gavriel?’ Her voice is hard and almost as angry as when she spoke to Chaol that night.  
‘Please, I just want to talk.’  
Saying nothing she remains leaning back against a tree stump, her blade in her lap but her body is tense.  
‘I came here to help you.’ Celaena laughs but there is no humour.  
‘You’ll be leaving here with a damn dagger in your neck if you don’t get to the point. In fact, why shouldn’t I just stick it in you now.’  
‘I’m sorry about what happened, but that’s why I’m here, it’s about Rowan.’ She sits bolt upright and I see something like concern in her eyes.  
‘What happened?’  
‘He sent me, to tell you that he wants you to come with me…’ he trails off at Celaena’s laughter.  
‘Really? You thought that would work on me? Rowan would never, ever, send you to me. So spit it out Gavriel, why are you really here?’ There is a pause before the man sighs and his eyes go hard.  
‘Fine, Maeve sent me. To try and find you.’  
‘Oh really? And what does my darling aunt want?’ The man shrugs and glances at the rest of us before looking back at Celaena.  
‘She didn’t tell me.’  
‘Of course she didn’t Gavriel.’  
‘I presume she thought if I took you, Rowan would come try and find you and she could kill you both.’  
‘Does she remember what happened the last time we were both in her city?’ The man goes completely still and then growls.  
‘No.’  
‘I’m bored of this, give your Queen a message from me. If she ever, sends one of you after me again, I’ll skin them alive. She sends anyone after Rowan, i’ll return to her city and this time, I’ll set it’s people on fire. That’s a promise.’ No one moves and i faintly wonder who this Rowan girl is? The man finally nods his head.  
‘Fine. Just don’t expect any help from her when the time comes.’ Celaena doesn’t reply just raises an eyebrow. With a final look in my direction the man disappears into the forest. Celaena watches him go and gestures for us to stay quiet. 5 minutes later she relaxes.  
‘Who the hell was that?’ I ask and Celaena looks at me before shrugging.  
‘Gavriel.’  
‘Care to expand?’ Chaol asks and her gaze falls in him, turning icy.  
‘Not really, you should all get some sleep.’ Standing up she disappears into the cave. The flames getting smaller each step away she takes until they flicker and disappear entirely, leaving us with nothing to do except go to sleep.

…………  
When I wake up the next morning it takes me a second to realise I can hear soft voices. I turn slightly and see Aedion and Celaena standing a few paces away. I close my eyes and listen carefully.  
‘You want to know why I’m avoiding you? Because I’m nothing like the innocent girl you loved, I’m a killer with oceans of blood on my hands. I disgraced our family’s name and never bothered to even come and find you. I just left and became the assassin that was known for killing with no mercy, why would you want to know this new me?’  
‘You’re my cousin, my sister really and we both had to do what was necessary to survive. I’m not proud of what I have done, I turned against our family, it is me who should be apologising. I should have protected you better.’  
‘What could you have done Aedion? I was practically dead until Arrobyn found me and helped me to survive. You were only a child, there was nothing you could have done.’  
‘I’m here now.’ Aedion’s voice is soft and there is no reply for a while and just as I’m drifting off again, I hear Celaena’s reply.  
‘I know.’ Before she walks away from him to her cave

When I wake up, Celaena is cooking something over a small fire. The others start to rouse as well and when it’s cooked, Celaena chucks some food at each of us which we eat quickly. We haven’t had hot food in a while. Mainly eating berries, nuts and the little bread that Chaol and Ren brought with them. Celaena has just finished eating when her head snaps up, her eyes shift form place to place, her gaze fixed on the forest. She sniffs and wrinkles her nose slightly before she seems to cock her head as if listening. Suddenly the forest goes silent, just like yesterday. Ren opens his mouth but Celaena shakes her head. For once he listens and says nothing.  
‘More soldiers?’ I whisper slightly and she only shakes her head.  
‘Much worse I think.’ Suddenly the forest comes alive with birds and bugs chirping. I relax,  
‘Maybe we over reacted.’  
‘There is one way to know for sure, just pray I’m wrong.’ Her voice has me looking around, she is worried.  
‘Don’t freak out.’ She says and there is a bright flash that forces me to look away. When I glance back I freeze. Celaena is still there but is now a Fae. Her sharp pointed ears are flickering, and her body has an animal stillness to it before she gags.  
‘God’s above.’  
‘What is it?’ I ask but before she can reply the forest goes silent again. She grab a few daggers and straps them to her side.  
‘Run.’

………..

She is leading us through the forest, stopping every now and then to wait for us to catch up before running on. Eventually we come to a wide clearing where Celaena stops. She sniffs the air before coughing and shaking her head.  
‘Damn things.’ Her ears prick back and her head snaps towards the forest, her eyes narrowing. She pushes us towards a big boulder that makes up one side of the clearing and looks at us.  
‘Don’t move from here, don’t engage it and whatever you do, don’t run.’  
‘Celaena, what is it?’ I ask but she just shakes her head at me. I hear a gruff noise from the trees directly opposite and we all look that way. My eyes widen as three things step out into the clearing. They were tall and lanky, looking vaguely human but i knew they weren’t. They wren’t Fae either. My mind raced through every thing I had ever heard of and when the wind changed direction and the smell hit me I realised. They were skin walkers, using human skin. I could barely breathe through the horrible stench and I realise how much worse it must be fore Celaena with her enhanced Fae senses. She walks forward to stand in front of us, relaxed but a dagger gripped in her hands.  
‘Look what we have, little fae.’ The voice hisses. They move forward slightly but Celaena doesn’t react apart from becoming slightly more tense.  
‘You’re so far from your realm.’ Another hisses and Celaena looks at it.  
‘Could say the same about you.’ They laugh but it sounds more like a hissing groan.  
‘We’ll enjoy skinning you.’ No response. They suddenly all move forward as one and Celaena crouches slightly, not moving from her place in front of us. Then they lunge. Celaena meets them blow for blow, darting in and out from them as they try and get a hit in. I wonder why she isn’t just killing them but I get my answer when a dagger she throws only slows one of them down, not killing it. I have no idea how we are going to get away if they can’t be killed. From the pace of their fighting, I know we would all be dead within seconds. This fight is not meant for humans. One of them suddenly lands a blow with such force that she flies through the air a couple of metres. Chaol stiffens and Aedion lets out a worried noise but they barely glance at us. I expect Celaena to be injured but if anything she gets angrier and when one of them decides to move towards us she lets out an enraged roar. I watch in horror as canines come ripping out of her mouth, animalistic snarls echoing loudly in the clearing as she appears before us in the blink of an eye. Growls are ripping out of her mouth and I am frozen in shock.  
‘Shield your eyes.’ Is all she says. I do as she says and look away just as explosive fire erupts towards the thing. It lets out an inhuman screech and then the acrid stench of burning flesh spreads through the clearing. I look up and gape at the burning carcass of the skin walker. I look at Celaena who kicks the body away. The other two are enraged and they split apart, one going to the right and one to the left, but they never step towards her. She stays still, trying to keep both of them in her vision as she backs slowly towards us at the same pace as the two creatures. One of them takes a step forward and Celaena focuses on it. Blasting roaring fire towards it, too late I realise it was a trick as Celaena aims all her power at one of those things, the other approaches from behind. I open my mouth to yell a warning but the thing is suddenly struck with a wind that blows into the clearing with all the force of a thousand tornados. Ice pins the skin walker to a tree where it struggles. I cling on to Chaol who roots Ren and Aedion from the wind. Celaena finally turns her attention from the second burnt husk and to the creature pinned against a tree. The ice holding it disappears and it lunges, preparing to fight but it barely takes a step before the fire consumes it. As the screeching stops Celaena looks around the clearing before finally relaxing. She turns and walks towards us and looks at me.  
‘You’re magic is a lot stronger than I thought.’ I shake my head, still too shocked at the sheer power that Celaena just showed. That type of power has not been seen in years and she barely even looks tired. She frowns and opens her mouth but a deep voice echoes across the clearing.  
‘I’m offended princess. You’re getting sloppy, you might have been killed.’ Celaena goes still, I can see her face is full of surprise. We all stand up and step towards her as a man steps out of the shadows. It takes everything in me not to back away. The man is huge, arms crossed across his broad chest that ripple with muscle. I can faintly see the tips of his Fae ears. A tattoo takes up the side of his face and disappears beneath his shirt, his eyes pierce into me from across the clearing. His tanned skin in stark contrast to his silvery hair. He has the same animalistic stillness about him that Celaena has and I recognise the stance of a warrior, along with the lethal swords and daggers strapped to his side. Slowly Celaena turns around.  
‘Who are you? How do you know she is the princess?’ Aedion questions and the man’s harsh, cold eyes turn in his direction.  
‘Aedion, hush.’ Celaena replies and Aedion looks taken aback.  
‘Is he a friend?’ Chaol questions.  
‘You could say that.’ His voice echoes around the clearing and Chaol shifts from the angry glare that is aimed at him.  
‘Well then who are you?’ The man sighs but Celaena takes a step forward  
‘You’re late.’ Immediately the man forgets about us and his gaze fixes on her, something plays in his eyes and I wonder who he is.  
‘Apologies, princess, I got here as fast as I could. Luckily for you.’ She snarls at him, her canines still glinting in her mouth.  
‘I had it covered.’  
‘Course you did.’ The man scoffs and she growls. I’m struggling to work out if they are friends or enemies.  
‘Yeah well I didn’t have anyone to practice on, the animals don’t make good competition in a fight.’ Her voice is sarcastic and it’s the first signs of the old Celaena I’ve seen this entire time we’ve been with her. The man shrugs his huge shoulders.  
‘I’m here now.’ There is a tense silence when no one moves and I remember Aedion saying the same words to her this morning before she walked away from him. Then the biggest smile I’ver ever seen lights up the man’s face.  
‘Hello, Fireheart.’ She runs towards him at top speed and I wait for her to attack him but then she launches herself into his arms. He catches her and buries his face in her neck. His strong arms coiled with muscle wrapped tightly around her slender back. They hold onto each other as if they are a rock in a stormy sea. One glance at Chaol’s face shows his jealousy and his pain of seeing her in another man’s arms and Aedion looks hurt, not that I can blame him. This is the most love I have seen her show anyone, including her cousin. Finally they pull away from each other. The man has a palm on her cheek and she leans into it. I can hear faint murmuring but my hearing is nowhere near sharp enough to hear it clearly. Finally after Ren clears his throat multiple times they pull away from each other and walk towards us. No one speaks and then Aedion coughs,  
‘Who is this Celaena?’  
‘Rowan.’ The man answers and Celaena stands silently beside him.  
‘I was asking her, not you.’ The man, Rowan takes a step forward but Celaena wraps a small hand around his arm. He immediately relaxes and moves back to beside Celaena. I cam’t place the name at first and then I remember, the man that came last night. They spoke about Rowan.  
‘Are you friends with that other Fae?’ Celaena winces and Rowan looks sharply at me and then at her.  
‘What other Fae?’ Celaena glares at me and I shrug apologetically.  
‘Aelin, answer me.’ I wait for her to snap at him for calling her that but she doesn’t.  
‘Gavriel.’ Rowan snarls and the canines that had previously been hidden in his mouth come ripping out.  
‘What did that bastard want?’ When Celaena doesn’t reply he grabs her shoulder. ‘Aelin.’  
‘Hey, watch it.’ Chaol barks and Rowan’s icy gaze fixes on him.  
‘Keep out of it.’ Chaol opens his mouth to reply but Celaena buts in.  
‘He tried to make me believe that you sent him, but I knew you would never do that, not after what he did to you. He admitted that Maeve sent him to get me and trick me into going to her and then she knew you would come and find me and then she could kill us both.’  
‘She knows what happened last time we were both in her city right?’ Celaena laughs softly, but it’s real.  
‘That’s what I said.’ Rowan suddenly frowns.  
‘Did he hurt you?’ Celaena shakes her head,  
‘He won’t be hurting either of us, not with the threat I issued.’ Rowan shakes his head at her,  
‘What did you say?’ She shrugs before replying,  
‘That I’d burn her people not just her city next time.’  
‘God’s above Aelin. You know you may have to carry through with that one day?’ She looks at him and then a silent conversation ensues that makes me uncomfortable before they look away. Celaena smirking and Rowan looking mildly annoyed.  
‘As cute as that conversation was, would someone like to fill us in?’ Ren asks with a tone that suggest he found their conversation anything but cute.  
‘Not really.’ Rowan tells him and Ren glares.  
‘This is Rowan, that’s all you need to know.’ Chaol opens his mouth to say something but suddenly the two Fae in front of us go perfectly still. Their heads both turning in the same direction as disgust and… fear?… fills their features. Their ears prick back and they look at each other at the same time.  
Rowan says a distinctly impolite word and she nods,  
‘We need to lead them away.’ The Fae warrior rolls his eyes but nods anyway before turning to us.  
‘Do you remember the way back to her camp?’ His voice is all business and when no one replies I speak up.  
‘Yes.’  
‘Good. When we give you the signal, run as fast as you can to there and stay there. Don’t move, don’t try and follow us and whatever you do, if something finds you, do not engage with it. We’ll be there in seconds. You cannot fight these things.’ I nod, noticing the faint shadows of fear in their eyes and the time for questions is later.  
‘What’s the signal?’ I ask and they both grin, evil smirks that have me grimacing.  
‘You’ll no it when you hear it. Ready?’ I nod and the two look at each other before sprinting off in slightly different directions. They are a blur and in a second they are gone, their Fae speed making it impossible to even try and see them. There is silence, nothing moves so when a loud bird caw echoes through the forest I take it as a sign and take off with the others right behind me. Thankfully we arrive at the camp within a few minutes and when we can’t hear anything Ren speaks up.  
‘What just happened?’ Chaol begins pacing.  
‘I don’t know, but I don’t like him.’ Aedion mutters his agreement and I roll my eyes at their obvious jealousy of the man close to Celaena.  
‘More importantly, what had them so spooked. It has to be worse than the skin walkers.’ I question and they both stop their bitching about Rowan to look at me. 15 minutes later the forest is still silent and nothing moves. A movement at the edge of the clearing has us all spinning in that direction, expecting to see the familiar faces but I feel myself go pale at the monster that steps out of the darkness. Yet the darkness moves with him, I look at the thing and notice a familiar collar around his neck. I remember the stories that Chaol and Ren told me, of Aelin defeating some creatures with fire. They were said to be darkness themselves and they bring nightmares to life, at least if the stories are to be believed. It hisses at us and none of us move, knowing that we are hilariously outsized and underpowered in front of this thing. It takes a step forward but then light seems to dash out of the trees and stand protectively in a crouch in front of us. It takes me a second to recognise it as Celaena, her skin practically glowing and her hair wreathed in a crown of fire. She bares her teeth at the creature who recoils from the light. She stands up slightly from her crouch but doesn’t mover from her protective position in front of us. With a battle roar the thing launches itself at her. Whipping out a blade she swings it, blocking the blade that was swinging towards her. Whereas the creatures blade is dark and coated in shadow, her blade is practically on fire, light emanating for it. They are a whirling blur of dark and light. It gets a blow in and she is thrown away, hitting a tree. It takes a step forward but their is a loud cawing nose and a bird swoops towards it.  
‘Fae prince.’ The creature hisses and there is a bright flash as the bird turns to a man who doesn’t miss a step as he launches himself at the monster. The man is Rowan and Celaena is up seconds later. Then both she and Rowan unleash themselves on the monster.

………….  
It’s like watching a dance, a dangerous, lethal, scary dance, but a dance none the less. Rowan and Celaena work effortlessly together. Every time the monster moves towards one of them, the other is drawing it’s attention away. An icy wind whips around the clearing, even more powerful than before and it finally clicks that Rowan has magic, as raw and almost as powerful as Celaena’s. I focus back on the fight to find the thing on it’s knees but still trying to keep Celaena at bay, finally Rowan distracts the things attention and Celaena extends a hand, then the world erupts in light.

When I can finally look back, there is nothing but a collar on the floor and no sign of the dark monster. Celaena is on her knees and Rowan drops to the floor beside her. A beat later they stand up and walk over.  
‘What was that?’ I say shakily and Celaena shakes her head,  
‘You don’t want to know.’  
‘Yes we really do.’ Chaol interrupts and Celaena looks at each of us in turn before nodding. We all sit around the fire, Rowan beside her, and then she tells us everything. About the Valg and the collars but never mentions anything about Rowan aside from ‘he used to serve in Maeve’s court and now he serves me’ When she finishes her story no one speaks and then Aedion presses her for more information.  
‘That’s all I can tell you.’ Ren narrows his eyes,  
‘So there is more to tell.’ She looks at him and nods.  
‘Yes, but I’m not telling you anything else right now.’ I open my mouth to argue but Rowan steps in.  
‘We all need to sleep, we can talk in the morning.’ I get the distinct feeling we won’t be talking in the morning but when Celaena nods wearily I realise just how tired she looks.  
‘You okay?’ I ask and she nods.  
‘Yes, but magic is not fully back and the energy i put into killing the Valg drained me more than it should have.’ She stands up but sways. Both Aedion, Chaol and I move to help her but Rowan is already swinging her into his arms.  
‘Damn it, you should have told me you didn’t have full power Aelin, I could have helped you and now you have basically emptied your well.’ He mutters but I can hear him.  
‘I’m fine, please don’t tell me you’re going to become all protective like last time.’  
‘Never princess.’ With surprising gentleness he sets her down on her makeshift bed. He seems to concentrate for a second and then any wind and coolness in the air vanishes. Leaving behind a calm, warm air.  
She ceases shivering and her breathing slows. Rowan is crouched beside her and murmurs something before brushing a hand over her forehead. He stands up and walks to the entrance of the cave before sitting down with his back to the wall so he can see both Celaena and the entirety of the clearing. He sees me watching him and scowls before asking with a gruff voice,  
'What? You should get some sleep.'  
'Is she okay?' I ask and he glances at the now sleeping assassin before turning to me. He seems to assess me for a moment, as if deciding if he should answer me.  
'She will be.' He finally says and for some reason I know that he would never let anything happen to her so I nod and lie down, sleep claiming me a few minutes later.


End file.
